New named Dropbox structure

[t4ngml]

I am a user of DropBox Business, on Windows 10.

Last week, I suddenly realized that the shortcuts to some of my Dropbox folders were broken.

A quick look learned me that the structure had changed.

While I used to access my folder through:

C:/User/{username}/Dropbox (COMPANY NAME)/, I can now find them at:
C:/User/{username}/{COMPANY NAME} Dropbox/MyFirstName LASTNAME/

Now, both structures seem to remain while the first one is now a hidden shortcut (although I can't seem to see where it links to).

So that I don't really know where my files actually are.

Is this change documented anywhere?

Thanks

After a couple of days, I realized this happened to all of this Dropbox Business users across the company, Mac and Windows, and that it messes up with backup strategies.

I didn't find anything about this new structure in DropBox's changelog.

[Megan]

Hi @Leatherfoot, happy Thursday! 

At the moment, it's not possible to change the structure of how your Dropbox account looks in your File Explorer, since it mimics and syncs the account the same way you see it on the web.

What you describe is indeed related to how a Business team behaves. Your comments on this have been quite helpful, and I will do everything I can to ensure that your voice is heard.

I hope this clarifies!

[Brandon9]

I got a notification that the file paths for drop box is going to change tomorrow morning with a new update as follows 

Notes:

• The naming convention of the Dropbox folder will change from “Dropbox [team name]” to “[Team name] Dropbox”.
• Existing team folders will move to the team space:
  • /[team name] Dropbox/[Team-name]’s shared workspace
• Each team member will now have their own personal folder called a team member folder: 
  • /[team name] Dropbox/[Team member’s name]
• All other content, including shared folders, will be moved to each member’s team member folder.

Regardless of your decision to opt into or postpone the upgrade, all of your folder and file permissions will remain unchanged. We won’t remove any files from your Dropbox account.

Link to article - https://help.dropbox.com/accounts-billing/plans-upgrades/upcoming-business-team-changes?_camp=14108&...

This update is going to break all of the file paths that we have tied into different things. Does anyone know if there is a way to completely opt-out of this update, or a solution so this update won't break our file paths? Thanks.

[Mark]

---

@Brandon9 wrote:

This update is going to break all of the file paths that we have tied into different things. Does anyone know if there is a way to completely opt-out of this update, or a solution so this update won't break our file paths? Thanks.

---

Unfortunately not - you can postpone for 30 days but not opt out.

[vaskart]

Dropbox rearranged/upgraded our business account over Labor Day weekend. Before, when I went into DropBox.com it showed one folder with our business name (BUSINESS) and all our shared folders nested in that folder. When I opened dropbox.com this week There was a new Folder with my name that had been created (MYNAME). While 2 of our major shared folders remained under the business name folder - the most important one "DESIGN" - moved to the new created folder (MYNAME-DESIGN). In addition, a new "DESIGN" folder was set up in the main BUSINESS folder - but I no longer had access to it, and co workers who still had access reported the folder was empty.

The problem: when I tried to pull up files from the MYNAME-DESIGN folder none of my computer programs - AutoCad, Excel, Adobe - could find the "DESIGN" folder so I couldn't open the files and work on anything unless I first downloaded them onto my computer and then opened them in whatever program I was trying to use. The whole point of sharing files on DropBox for us is to not be downloading and saving files to our individual computers.

so in my own - (probably misguided I admit) effort to try to get my computer back to what had been working well for me before - I moved the "DESIGN" folder back out of the new MYNAME folder to the BUSINESS folder. Now I have a BUSINESS-DESIGN folder that I have no access to and is reportedly empty. and a BUSINESS-DESIGN (1) Folder that still has the same problem that none of my software links to it.

When I go into dropbox.com I can view and access shared files both in BUSINESS or in MYNAME. However none of the programs I use seem to be able to access my the shared folders. Also when I pull up Finder it does not show any of the shared folders that I can see on Dropbox.com. When I tried to move the DESIGN (1) folder back into the MYNAME folder to undo the previous change I had made - I get the message that if I move the folder all the files will be removed for every one else. Which is not what I need to do.

So the basic question - how do I restore the connection between my computer and all our shared folders. It seems like this is a dropbox issue - not a MAC issue because I had no problems at all until the folders were rearranged - not by us - over the weekend.  None of the labels and topics seem to fit - so not sure how or where to post.

[rdurand]

I just got that notice as well. This is a horrible change and has me looking for an alternative service. It is going to cost our company thousands in staff time and project interruptions, and the move to having personal folders for our employees is going to be a major headache. Really wish Dropbox had done some consultation or advanced notification about these changes.

Will also have to re-sync the 5.5TB of data that is on my computer due to this change!

[Rich]

---

@vaskart wrote:

So the basic question - how do I restore the connection between my computer and all our shared folders.

---

This help article describes what occurred:

• https://help.dropbox.com/accounts-billing/plans-upgrades/upcoming-business-team-changes

Basically, your file structure has been rearranged due to the upgrade. Your files are still accessible but if you're only relying on the list of recently opened files in your applications, then those won't work (the locations have changed and the apps can't find the files). Instead, you just need to navigate to your files and open them, either by double-clicking on them in your Explorer/Finder window, or by using your application's Open command and browsing to the file in its new location. Once you've opened the files from their new locations, your applications' Recent list should update with the new locations of your files.

[Brandon9]

Geeze!! That's a lot. Yeah, we are starting to seriously consider alternative services as well due to this, as this is not ok. Going to cost us a lot of time and headache when this change is made. At least with the option to delay it by 30 days, we can make some sort of game plan, but still, this is far less than ideal. If nothing else, happy we saw the notice today instead of coming in on Monday with everything blown up. 

[vaskart]

That is actually the biggest problem - Finder no longer sees the Folders. I am not going from Recent files - I am trying to Open from my various programs or use Finder - In both cases, the folders do not show up.

[Megan]

Hi @vaskart, how are you today?

Would you be able to let me know what your syncing status reports? 

Also, feel free to send me a few screenshots of what you see on the web, vs what you see when trying to access your content using Finder. 

Thanks a bunch!

[sarke]

Before, the folder structure was:

User Folder A
User Folder B
Team Folder C
User Folder D

But now it's all of a sudden:

User/Folder A
User/Folder B
User/Folder D
Team Folder C

Seriously,? People depend on files being in certain locations! Don't break stuff!